和谐英语

VOA常速英语:Treatment of Iranian Baha'is of Grave Concern(翻译)

2016-10-04来源:VOA
In his recent address to the UN General Assembly in New York, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani denounced sectarianism and attempts to promote religious divisions.
伊朗总统哈桑·鲁哈尼近日于纽约出席联合国大会。在会上,他强烈谴责了教派主义人士企图创造宗教分歧的恶劣行径。

Yet in Iran, persecution of minority religious communities continues, and it is a matter of deep concern to the United States, said Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein.
然而,伊朗国内对少数派宗教团体的迫害还在继续。国际宗教自由巡回大使David Saperstein表示,这样的情形引起了美国政府的担忧。

The victims of that persecution and discrimination include Sunni Muslims and those who follow the Sufi tradition; also Zoroastrians, Jews and Christians, and dissident Shia adherents. But it is the Baha’i community, whose faith has been essentially criminalized, said Ambassador Saperstein, who suffer the severest repression:
逊尼派穆斯林和其他遵循苏菲派教义的宗教信徒(如拜火教、犹太教、基督教)以及其他持有异议的什叶派教徒都遭到了迫害和歧视。这里本该是巴哈教的家园,然而迫害者们却将他们定义为罪犯,这些巴哈教教徒正受到最严重的歧视。Saperstein大使如是说:

“The very existence of the group is declared to be illegal.Um, Its leaders are in jail in many cases, and often many of those in jail often end up with facing significant human rights abuses there as well…Any of the religious activities of the Baha’is are often repressed; [they are] persecuted, subject to arrest by the government.”
“就连巴哈教本身的存在都被认为违法。他们有许多领导人被关进了监狱,并且正经历着严重侵犯人权的虐待……巴哈教的许多宗教活动都遭到打压,教徒也遭到迫害、甚至被政府逮捕。”

Not only are the Baha’is religious activities forbidden in Iran, Baha’is businesses are subject to arbitrary closure; individuals are attacked with impunity; graveyards are despoiled; and students are refused admittance to university unless they renounce their faith.
巴哈教不仅是其宗教活动受到禁止,就连商贸活动也遭到了蛮横地关闭。事实远不止如此,他们的教徒被肆意攻击,而袭击者无需对此负责;他们祖先的坟墓被随意掘开;他们的学生不宣布放弃自己的信仰就无法进入大学学习

Ambassador Saperstein noted that “religion is an extraordinarily powerful part of the lives of the vast majority of people on earth.”It is, he added, an integral part of a person’s identity:
Saperstein大使指出:“对于这个星球上生活的很大一部分人们来说,宗教有着极其强大的力量。”事实确实如此,他补充道,宗教是一个人身份的不可分割部分。

“So it goes to the core issues of the rights of someone to live in accordance with their conscience.When someone is told they can’t do that…and will be subject to repression or persecution or discrimination, then it divides that society along sectarian divisions; it creates different classes of citizenship.”
“最核心的问题是,一个人应当拥有按照他的内心去生活的权利。当有人告诉你,这么做不可以……而且你将因此受到打压、迫害、歧视的时候,这个社会就以教派之隔,分割出了社会的不同阶级。”

The result, said Ambassador Saperstein is a destabilized society, where the structures that should unify a society, are weakened.
Saperstein大使说,这样的结果将会使社会动荡,使得原本应该巩固社会团结的支柱分崩离析。

In contrast, even when a government has a religious identity, but still protects the rights of all its people, that government “nurtures a kind of trust, a comity and a commonweal” that makes a country stronger.
与之形成对比的是,虽然有的政府拥有宗教身份,但是仍能保护其人民的权利。这样的政府“培养出一种信任、礼让、为大众利益着想的社会”,使得这个国家日益强大。

Without religious freedom, said Ambassador Saperstein, “there can be no real democracy, no stability, and no lasting security for any country.” Promoting this fundamental right “is indispensable to America’s values and to America’s interests and to the well-being of all humanity.”
Saperstein大使说,失去了宗教自由,“这个国家就将会失去民主、失去稳定、失去长治久安。”我们要保障这项基本权利,因为它“是美国价值观不可缺少之物、是美国关切之物、是全体人类的福祉。”